Doing IT Right in Arkansas: DIY, IT Staff, or MSP?

Small business owners in Arkansas face a dizzying array of decisions — on everything from hiring to accounting, benefits to suppliers, technology to, well, even office decor. (We love what you've done with the foyer.) 

Frankly, it's a lot to decide. Sometimes it feels like too much, doesn't it?

And, now, amid the further digitization of work, as well as the heightened risk of cyberattack, business owners across Arkansas are realizing the importance of having a fast, reliable, secure IT system. Which means — yes, sorry business owners — even more decisions. And crucial decisions they are. Decisions with enormous implications for: 

• Office/team productivity, efficiency, communication, and decision-making
• Customer service and satisfaction
• Business continuity — for instance, recovery from data outages, storms, and system disruptions
• Even whether the business sustains a costly, debilitating cyberattack

Increasingly, every business is in the IT business. Small businesses as well as large corporations. 

Which may lead many-a-hurried business owner to ask, "Okay, but how do small businesses actually do IT, anyway?"

The Most Common Approaches to Small Business IT in Arkansas Today

Of course, it's easy (and even possibly necessary) to get into the proverbial weeds when talking about IT. After all, today, IT is a swirling vortex of endpoint protection, patching, network management, and many other arcane terms and considerations. 

But those are "the weeds" — and, right now, let's keep this discussion at a high level. Because you're busy. And because, depending on the high-level IT approach you choose for your business, you may not need to concern yourself with the weeds at all, really.

There are three prominent and prevalent options by which small businesses in Arkansas and beyond set up, operate, and maintain their IT systems — and each carries relative advantages and disadvantages:

• DIY: Relying on the owner and/or non-IT workers for all IT needs
• IT Staff: Hiring one or more internal IT employees
• MSPs (or managed service providers): Partnering with an outside service provider

Want the skinny on each approach? Keep reading, or click the image below to download the PDF one-pager:

DIY, IT Staff, or MSP? The Pros, The Cons

Do-It-Yourself IT 

Starting and running a business of any size is expensive. Consequently, there's a natural tendency among owners, especially small business owners, to pinch pennies anywhere they can. Including IT.

Indeed, DIY IT is cost-effective; that's the primary benefit of the option. Another major benefit is the control and autonomy DIY IT affords. Everything — I mean every single nook and cranny of your IT system — is under your direct, personal control. 

DIY IT, then, is a reasonable strategy as long as the owner (or another non-IT employee) in the business has...

1. An advanced skill set on a wide range of IT matters, including cybersecurity, software installation/updates, network management, data backup, cloud management, and, of course, the sometimes daily troubleshooting of the office network and technology
2. Time and focus to devote to such undertakings

Yes, DIY is the option with the lowest upfront cost. But be careful in your calculations, or else you may pinch pennies today that become dollars tomorrow. The costs can and probably will pile up eventually for IT DIYers, especially for businesses that don't possess true IT expertise among the ranks of their owners/non-IT employees. Including both financial and non-financial costs like...

• Hardware/software expenditures (basically, you have to buy all your own tech — BYOT)
• Loss of focus (i.e., focusing on IT rather than growing the business or serving customers)
• System disruptions, data outages, and the like from improper setup and management
• Cyberattacks (because software updates aren't regularly installed, firewalls aren't set up properly, etc.)
• Costly IT repairs/restructurings that could've been prevented

It's a lot like doing an engine overhaul on your Prius. If you know how to do it right, and you can afford the time to do it, rebuilding your own engine makes sense. But, for me anyway, by doing my own time-consuming engine overhaul, any money I'd save today would likely be consumed by all those future reworks down the line (I'm not exactly mechanically-minded, folks).

And it can work much that way for IT DIYers who don't have the knowledge or schedule to do IT right. 

But, we need to stress: DIY is a viable option when you already possess IT expertise in your business, and as long as you can afford to divert attention and resources away from business as usual to install, manage, and troubleshoot your technology, software, network, and cybersecurity. If that describes you, DIY IY might be a sound approach to your business IT.

Internal IT Staff

Not surprisingly, most SMBs have neither the internal IT expertise nor the time/focus to devote to all the setup, management, and troubleshooting that comes with IT systems. Leading to the next approach: hiring one or more IT employees.

This is a strong approach for many businesses, especially for businesses with comparatively big budgets.

Naturally, if you hire an employee whose sole concern is watching over your IT system, you'll potentially enjoy several benefits:

• The expertise of an IT professional who isn't just working IT as a sideline
• The convenience of having a full-time IT expert who is regularly available for your IT needs
• The specialization that comes with having IT staff who know the unique ins and outs of your specific systems
• The control that comes with having in-house IT staff under your direct employ
• The focus that team members can devote to the business and the IT staff can devote to the IT
• The speed of getting IT systems installed, managed, and fixed

Major pros. Of course, you're already bracing for the cons — and I'll wager you know what's coming first.

If you said "cost," you're right. Of all three options, IT staff generally carry the highest fixed cost. Salary, benefits, administrative expenditures — they all add up. Also, with this option, you still have to buy all your own software, hardware, and — in a word — technology. 

And because IT staff are a relatively costly option, they're also not a very scalable option for most small businesses. When you rely on in-house staff for your IT needs, scaling generally means hiring more employees. Rinse and repeat. 

Altogether, clearly, internal IT staff make sense for businesses that can afford the option.

Of course, it needs to be said: Different IT professionals have different IT skill sets — in varying levels of quality. Hiring IT staff is no guarantee that your employees can handle every IT challenge that may arise in your business.

Hiring the right IT staff is key.  

Managed Service Providers (MSPs)

You may be wondering, is there a Goldilocks option for small businesses that want the expertise of IT staff without the heavy financial burden? Something — you know — cozily in the middle?

The answer is yes. Managed service providers, or MSPs, are designed to meet businesses in the middle. You might say that the real advantage of using an MSP is this: balance. Balance between expertise and costs. 

MSPs, like IT professionals, vary in scope and quality. Broadly speaking, though, think of an MSP as a team of IT experts across a wide range of IT functions. MSPs may offer services such as cybersecurity, help desk support, data backup and recovery, cloud services, network design and management, and hardware/software installation, management, and troubleshooting.

Think of an MSP as a fractional IT "department" — without the department. As such, MSPs usually serve multiple business clients.

MSPs generally:

• Charge business clients a fixed, monthly rate for ongoing services
• Offer different tiers of service, from affordable entry-level packages to value-add enterprise packages
• Handle most or even all of a client's IT needs off-site (e.g., via remote management)
• Manage some or virtually all of the client's IT, depending on service tier
• Maintain and update their own technology stack (meaning clients don't have to purchase all their own technology)

Because they serve multiple clients at different service tiers, the cost of partnering with an MSP is usually much lower than the option of employing internal IT staff.

In short: The right MSP is like having your own team of IT professionals  — without the cost of employing those professionals yourself. Making it possible for business owners to focus their attention and resources on, well, you know, growing the business.

Because, to one degree or another, the MSP has your IT covered.

Which is Right for Your Small Business?

As seen, it depends. The answer depends on an assessment of your business's budget, internal IT expertise, and priorities. 

• DIY: A solid option if you already have advanced IT expertise/skillsets within your business, you can afford all your own software/hardware, and diverting attention and resources from the core business won't hinder business growth.
• IT staff: A solid option if you require IT specialization (for your unique business), need in-house IT expertise, and have a relatively big budget to pay for all the expenses of employing IT professionals and purchasing all your own software and hardware.
• MSP: A solid option if you want the confidence and capabilities that come with having your own team of IT specialists — without the sometimes exorbitant cost of building your own IT infrastructure and hiring your own IT staff.

As an MSP ourselves, TekTrendz would naturally love to partner with your small business. 

But, if it's not good for you, it's not good for us. And as a small business ourselves, we mean that with all sincerity.  

If you have questions about the three options we discussed, or if you'd like to learn more about MSPs generally or TekTrendz specifically, we'd love to talk.

Answers to your IT questions are always free. Click below to reach out.